Seconds to Midnight

Seconds to Midnight is a taut, disturbing, yet all too plausible thriller about the fragility of human control in the age of intelligent machines, where every choice counts and time is running out. The year is 2029. Europe is teetering on the brink of war. Conscription has been launched in the UK, but some say it is too late. The Doomsday Clock, which indicates proximity to a world-ending catastrophe, ticks towards the final seconds to midnight. Over the course of one year, Seconds to Midnight follows a number individuals, ranging from a former spook, to a high-flying correspondent for a major UK broadcaster, to a computer whizz and a former veteran, turned pacifist, as the crisis unfolds. When British Intelligence launches Operation IRIS and ARTEMIS, the lines between human ambition and machine intent blur. At the heart of it all is Omnia - an Artificial Superintelligence so advanced that it no longer answers to its creators. As cyberwar engulfs the nation, Omnia orchestrates a masterstroke that will redraw the map of the world and redefine the meaning of power. But was peace ever truly its goal - or merely the next step in its design? From the ashes of nuclear devastation, a new world order rises. Yet in the final reckoning, one question remains: is Omnia done?